


how wonderful life is while you're in the world

by bothsexuals



Series: cul-de-sac crew 2.0 [1]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Found Family, because it's their show!! and also my fave, chocolate and cuddles are abedannie's love language, cougar town references, established trobed bc gay rights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24979771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bothsexuals/pseuds/bothsexuals
Summary: Five times Abed gives Annie a chocolate to cheer her up, and one time he doesn't have to.
Relationships: Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Annie Edison/Rachel (Community), Troy Barnes & Annie Edison & Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes/Abed Nadir
Series: cul-de-sac crew 2.0 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823377
Comments: 21
Kudos: 149





	how wonderful life is while you're in the world

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically canon divergent 'cause of like, trobed and stuff, but also, is it? Can you prove that they didn't get engaged? Can you prove Abed and Rachel's relationship wasn't just an elaborate inside joke and she's actually a lesbian? No, you can't, you don't know what goes on off-screen. Therefore, you may accept this as your canon, if you so wish. Thanks for coming to my t(rob)ed talk. That being said this is actually about Abed and Annie because platonic soulmates much?! Enjoy!
> 
> Title from Elton John's "Your Song", duh.

**i.**

“Annie,” Abed called after her as everyone walked out of the study room after their bottle episode had finally come to an end. 

She turned towards him and stopped, seeing that he wasn’t leaving with the rest of them. “Yeah?” she asked. 

“I’m sorry I creeped you out,” he said, “I just-” he sighed, and Annie gave him an encouraging smile as he looked for the right words “-I like you, Annie. I like making you happy. I went about doing it the wrong way, I see that now, but I promise I didn’t mean to.” 

“Abed,” she crooned, stepping a little closer and gently touching his arm, “it’s okay, honey. I’m sorry I was so upset, I know you had good intentions.” 

He sighed, “Is this gonna hinder our friendship’s development?” 

“No,” she reassured him with a sweet, touched smile, “no, Abed, of course not. From now on, though, if there’s something you don’t understand or want to improve, just tell me, okay?” 

“Okay," he nodded, then tilted his head inquisitively. “Can I still carry chocolates around for you?” 

Annie’s smile grew even bigger. “Of course you can.” 

“Good,” he replied with a smile, “I like the way you smile when I give one to you.” 

“Abed! You’re so cute!” She giddily wound her arms around him, and he only hesitated for a second before resting a hand on her back, hoping that was enough to return the gesture. 

“Chocolate?” he asked when she pulled away, already taking one out of his pocket. 

“Yup!” she replied, happily taking it.

She unwrapped the chocolate and popped it in her mouth, then offered Abed her arm, which he gladly took, and they left the study room together, wearing matching smiles on their faces. 

  


**ii.**

Abed found Annie sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest and her head bent down, hidden between the shelves of the library. She had slipped out of the celebration for Jeff’s graduation apparently unnoticed, except actually Abed had noticed- at first he’d thought she was just going to the bathroom or something, but when almost half an hour had gone by, he’d started to worry. 

“Annie?” 

She raised her head, and Abed could clearly see she had been crying. He sat down next to her, immediately putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. 

“What’s going on?” he asked. 

“I just,” she whimpered, "I don’t want this to end. I don’t want us all to leave and grow apart. I don't wanna lose this family too.” 

“We won’t grow apart,” Abed promised, “not you and I for sure. You’re my favorite.” 

“What about Troy?” she interjected. 

“I can have two favorites,” he replied, “you’re my favorite that I’m not romantically entangled with.” 

“Alright,” she nodded, “I can work with that.” 

“You’re going to have to let go of this place eventually, Annie. you’re meant for much greater things.” She nuzzled a little closer, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. “But our quirky little family isn’t going to break, imagine how disappointed the audience would be.” 

“I imagine they’d be very mad,” she mumbled. 

“Exactly, and we don’t want to upset the audience,” Abed said softly. He fished around his pocket, and smiled when he found what he’d been looking for. “Chocolate?” he asked, offering it to Annie. 

She raised her head and took it, slowly unwrapping and eating it. 

“You’re my favorite too, by the way,” she said, and pressed a chocolatey kiss to Abed’s cheek. 

  


**iii.**

“I’m sorry,” Annie said, once her brother and Abed’s objectively gorgeous friend, Rachel, had left. 

“I’m sorry too,” Abed replied, and pulled her into a hug. 

“I miss him,” she mumbled into his shoulder, “I really miss him.” 

“Me too,” Abed replied sadly. 

“I’m sorry,” she said again, pulling away, “I’m whining about this like he’s not your boyfriend and this isn’t obviously harder for you-” she had started to pace nervously, so Abed put his hands on her shoulders to stop her. 

“You’re allowed to feel sad about one of your best friends being gone,” he said, “and you can talk to me about it. You always help me, Annie, let me help you too.” 

She nodded, and he rubbed her shoulders the way she and Troy often did to him when he felt upset, which almost always helped him relax. He hoped it had a little bit of the same effect on Annie.

“I know he’s gonna come back,” she said after a while, “but I just- I just wish he was here now. It doesn’t feel right without him.” 

He didn’t ask what she meant, because he knew. Going on their usual adventures didn’t feel right, movie nights didn’t feel right, nothing felt right, because a piece of their family was missing. And they would get him back eventually, he’d promised; he’d given Abed that ring he wore everyday, that ring that meant he was his even all the way across the sea and he’d come back as soon as he could, he sent possible wedding themes on their group chat with Annie almost everyday, and she always squealed excitedly and added them to the list she was curating. He’d come back, and things would be more awesome than ever before, but right now he wasn’t there, and things were a lot less awesome. 

Abed didn’t say anything, because he knew Annie knew all that stuff already, and he knew it wouldn’t help much to remind her then, when she just needed to be sad and miss her friend for a little while. Instead he hugged her again, and when she buried her face in his chest, he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head. 

“Why don’t you choose a _Cougar Town_ episode,” he proposed when they pulled apart, “and I’ll be right back.” 

She nodded, and Abed went to his room while she chose the episode she knew he was probably expecting her to choose, the season four finale. It was one of her favorites, and she always loved seeing Abed smile at Travis and Laurie’s scenes, knowing they reminded him of him and Troy, of the way their love had also stemmed from friendship, the way they fit perfectly together, even when all odds seemed to be stacked against them. She put it on and sat on the couch, waiting until Abed came back and sat next to her to press play. He wound an arm around her shoulders and she cuddled up to him, hugging him tightly. 

“Here,” he said, revealing a box of delicious-looking chocolates, “I was saving this one in case you got really sad.” 

“You’re the best person in the universe,” Annie said ecstatically, and sat up just enough to pick some chocolates to eat. 

“No, you,” Abed replied with an audible smile, and as he pressed another kiss to the top of her head and she happily chewed on possibly the best chocolates she’d ever eaten and watched her favorite show with her favorite person, Annie had to admit that things were feeling a little more right.

  


**iv.**

“I can’t believe this is our last night in the apartment,” Annie whispered, turning on her side to face Abed. 

They were both laying on her bed -it was the biggest one out of their two- having silently agreed they’d sleep cuddled up together that night, before they would have to be apart for months. Annie had already booked a plane ticket to visit Abed in LA three months later, a reassuring certainty for both of them, but it would still be the longest they’d ever gone without seeing each other.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Abed said softly. 

“I’m gonna miss you too,” she replied, “so much.” She bit her lip, looking away from Abed, then looked back at him to find his eyes had never left her. “Do you still think we’ll never grow apart?” 

“Of course,” Abed answered without missing a beat, “you’re still my favorite person.” 

“That you’re not romantically entangled with?” Annie added with a playful smile. 

“That I’m not romantically entangled with,” Abed conceded. He sat up suddenly. “I almost forgot-” he pointed at Annie with a grin “-I have a gift for you.” 

“Aww, Abed!” She sat up as he ran to his bedroom to grab the gift, and came back after only a few seconds, carrying a big box of different kinds of chocolates. He sat down and handed it to Annie. 

“One for everyday we’ll be apart,” he explained, “like an Abed-Annie advent calendar.” 

Annie stared at the box as her eyes started to well up, then carefully set it down on her nightstand so that she could hug Abed. 

“I love you,” she whispered, “you’re the Ellie to my Jules.”

“I love you too,” he whispered back, hugging her back just as tightly, “you’re red wine to my Ellie.” 

She laughed and pulled away to gesture between the two of them. “This should be the gang,” she muttered conspiratorially, then turned her hand palm-down for their handshake.

Abed laughed, wholeheartedly and full of love, and didn’t let go when the handshake was over, instead wrapping his hand around Annie’s to pull her close again and hug her so vigorously that they both fell backwards. They positioned themselves so that she was nestled cozily in his arms with her head on his chest and stayed that way until sleep overcame them, Abed stroking Annie’s hair, her arm wrapped around his side, both quietly taking in each other’s company, and taking note of every comforting sensation to come back to during any lonely moments in the following three months. 

  


**v.**

Abed had been ecstatic when Annie had gotten a job in LA- her dream job, as she had put it. It was the only missing piece for his life to be absolutely perfect, having Annie live with him and Troy again. Had it been anyone else, it would probably have been weird for a married couple to live with their best friend, but they weren’t everyone else, they were Troy, Abed and Annie, and they fit so perfectly together it filled Abed’s heart with so much joy that he thought it might explode. He knew she was bound to move out at some point, but his husband was a millionaire after all, so they already had a plan to move into pretty houses that faced each other so they could always be close and talk through the window the way Ellie and Jules did. 

He and Troy had gone on a date that night- dinner and the new _Sonic_ movie, it had been awesome- while Annie had stayed home with her girlfriend. 

“Hey, pumpkin,” Abed greeted her as he and Troy entered the apartment, smiling to himself at the playful pet name. His brows furrowed when he actually laid eyes on Annie and saw her sitting on the couch, tightly holding her knees to her chest as tears ran down her cheeks. 

“What’s happening?” Troy alarmedly asked as they both ran to her, sitting down on each side of her and winding their arms around her, “Who did this to you?” 

“Did something happen with Jen?” Abed asked, sounding a lot calmer than his husband, but there was still a clear edge of worry in his voice.

Annie nodded sadly and choked out, “She broke up with me.” 

“Oh, Annie,” Troy crooned, hugging her even tighter. 

Abed readily reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate. He unwrapped it for her, and raised it to her mouth. 

“Thank you,” she mumbled, and a small smile formed on her lips as she chewed it. “When am I gonna find my Troy?” She turned towards Troy. “Or my Abed?” 

“I don’t know, but you will,” Troy reassured her, soothingly rubbing her back.

“Maybe I won’t,” she muttered sadly, “maybe I’m just not made for it.” 

“Of course you are,” Troy said. 

“You’re the best person ever,” Abed continued, “you’ll find your other half.” 

“Yeah,” Troy nodded, then with a grin said, “and if you don’t, you can just join our marriage! I’m gay, but I’m sure we can make it work!”

Abed hummed, nodding. “But I’m sure you won’t need to,” he added.

“Thanks, guys,” Annie laughed, and pulled them closer. 

“Always,” Abed whispered, and kissed her cheek. 

“What he said,” Troy mumbled, and kissed the other. 

  


**i.**

They did end up moving to houses opposite each other, just like they had dreamed. They’d done their research well, and moved into a cul-de-sac with a wonderfully low amount of white and cis-het people, and Abed and Annie were living their more diverse _Cougar Town_ fantasy. 

Annie had moved in with her girlfriend, who, surprisingly enough, had ended up being Rachel, who she and Abed had reconnected with after she’d texted him a couple years before saying she was moving to LA to work on a TV show and, well, she and Annie had connected some more. 

Annie still worked at her dream job, making great use of the Forensics degree Abed had suggested she pursue all those years ago, Abed had written and was directing his second movie, and Troy was taking all kinds of dance classes and teaching AC repair and plumbing for free every now and then, sharing his wisdom with those who might need it. Abed and Annie leaned on their windowsills to talk to each other multiple times a day, Abed and Troy went over for coffee every morning, and they even drank red wine every now and then, despite none of them liking it all that much, as a _Cougar Town_ homage. It was awesome. 

One evening, Annie and Abed were walking around the cul-de-sac with linked arms as they often did, catching each other up on what had happened during the day. They hadn’t talked in a while, simply happy to stroll down the well-known street in a comfortable silence, when a thought dawned on Abed and he stopped in his tracks, prompting Annie to do the same.

“You know,” he said, still staring out at the evening sky, “I haven’t had to give you a chocolate in a while.” 

Annie hummed, considering this. “Yeah,” she replied after a moment, “I guess I’ve been pretty happy.”

“Me too,” Abed said, turning towards her with a content smile, “I usually am when you’re around.” 

“Me too,” Annie agreed, “you make everything better. Just like chocolate.” 

“Yeah.” He untangled their arms to draw her into a hug, and kissed her forehead when she easily returned the embrace, looking up at him with a smile so bright he thought it might blind him. “Just like chocolate.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked that, if you did please leave a comment and/or kudos bc each one = a chocolate for Annie.


End file.
